‘Beartown’ is the Best Book I’ve Read in 2018
The story of a hockey team, of violence, and of so much more
This year, I’ve done a lot more reading than I have in years past. I’ve kept track of every book I’ve read since January, and I’m hoping to add several more titles to my list by December 31. Largely, this has been an incredibly rewarding process. I’ve been to my local library much more often, used my kindle extensively, and visited several independent bookstores in search of great reads.
While the year isn’t over year, my favorite book so far of the year — and I should note, I’m talking about books that I read this year, not books that were released this year — is Fredrick Backman’s Beartown. This book is a novel about a hockey team set in rural Sweden; the story of a community that looks to its athletes for success and fulfillment when everything else is gone. Like most great sports novels though, this book is also about much more than the actual game itself.
Much of the story revolves around a specific act of violence that happens relatively early on. It’s difficult to discuss more of the story without revealing more of the plot, which I’ll refrain from doing here since the book jacket doesn’t go any further than what I’ve already typed. It’s fair to say that this violence drives the plot for the vast majority of the book, creating a schism between characters and the entire community of Beartown. As the junior hockey team hurtles toward a potential championship victory, the town fractures around them and the team’s chances take a serious blow.
Backman writes from the perspective of multiple different characters, ranging from players on the hockey team, their teenage peers, and an ensemble of adults. These individuals are well-written, but Backman’s compassion for both the town makes this story special. Every character has their own motivations and concerns, and the way that Backman conveys these attributes helps readers relate to each part of the overarching narrative.
This book is also deeply sad, despite a few cathartic moments at the end. Beartown as a community is on the verge of economic collapse throughout the entire book, and many of the adults have their hopes pinned on future economic success driven by the hockey team. Having the aspirations of an entire community resting on the shoulders of a group of teenagers is a deeply unfair responsibility, one that creates different pressure points and collapses throughout the story.
Perhaps the most important attribute of this book is how well Backman connects the thrills, pain, and emotion of hockey to the lives of everyone who lives in Beartown. There is a beauty to sports played at a highly competitive level, and Backman writes about the moment-to-moment hockey action well enough to help people like me (who don’t know much about hockey as a sport) understand every part of it. In the final chapters, the town politics and hockey come together in some of the most emotionally moving plot resolutions I’ve read in some time.
I still plan on reading several books this year, but Beartown stands easily above the rest so far. To anyone interested in sports novels, small town politics, or just a great novel, I highly recommend this one.
